This invention relates to a process for the production of artificial leather having a crepe pattern, and more particularly to a process for the production of such artificial leather without using a press form.
Hitherto, as for a method of forming a relatively deep elaborate embossed pattern on artificial leather, there have been known a pressing method using embossing rolls, a method using embossed release paper to transfer the embossed pattern of the embossed release paper to the surface of the artificial leather, and a method in which artificial leather is subjected to radio heating. These methods are patterning methods which directly or indirectly require a form such as an embossing roll. Such patterning methods using a press form, however, have drawbacks in that the cost of manufacture of press forms such as rolls is high, the period of manufacture is long, pressing device and process are required, it is necessary to increase the amount of production lot in one pattern when commercial profit is taken into consideration. As a result, the non-diversified-item large-amount production system has to be adopted, this being undesirable for a method of patterning artificial leather which is a commodity requiring a diversified-item small-amount production system. Further, while the method of patterning a synthetic resin with a press form at the time of thermal melting provides easy hot embossing, and while radio heating in the case of thermoplastic resins having polar groups such as polyvinyl chloride resin is satisfactory these methods are, hardly applicable to general-purpose artificial leather-making materials such as polyurethane, polyamino acid and polyamides.
The present invention has been accomplished with the intention of overcoming such disadvantages.
It is therefore the primary object of the invention to provide an improved process for the production of artificial leather having a crepe pattern without any press form.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved process for the production of artificial leather having a crepe pattern corresponding to a predetermined woven pattern of the basic woven fabric of the artificial leather.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will partly be self-explanatory and partly become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention.